A Different Ryoma
by WeirdoWhoWrites
Summary: Ryoma's a strange, dense maiden who hides many secrets. Watch as her new found friends unravel this mysterious girl and as she starts to open herself, be it willingly or via blackmail. Be nice, it's my first one. Rated T for safety
1. Epic Fail

"Damn, that Nanjiro, I told him to make sure she got here" The old lady scowled. This wouldn't be good for her blood pressure at all, and mind you it was high enough as it was. She growled as she continued to look around earning strange looks from the passing members of the tennis team though not one soul had the guts to ask.

"Neh, Kikumaru-senpai, is something wrong with coach today? She seems…..scarier than usual" Momo asked, half-heartedly receiving the ball as he felt her glare on him for a second.

"Nya~, must be that time of the month for her" He replied goofily, returning the ball.

"Isn't she too old for that?" He asked stupidly before getting knocked out by a tennis ball.

Eiji looked in horror as his teammate and current tennis rival, fell down, only to be met by the coach's glare with Tezuka right beside her, glaring at them also. He ran straight to his doubles partner, disturbing Oishi's game against Inui, and hid behind him, the glares following him till he disappeared.

"O-oi, Eiji!" Oishi exclaimed, not being able to return the tennis ball giving Inui the point.

"Fssssssshhhhhh" Kaidoh glared from on top the referee's seat, it was hot enough as it is and he needed to continue stamina training.

"Regulars, line up!" The coach bellowed all of a sudden, her face (and heart rate) calming down. They ran immediately.

The line up took a minute though as they had to drag Momo's body to the dug out, which weighed a ton considering how much he eats everyday and the weights on him (and the fact that only Oishi and the shy Kawamaru were dragging him there) Fuji just watched with his ever so 'angelic' smile besides Teuzuka and coach.

"Have you seen this girl?" She asked, shoving a picture of a beautiful black haired maiden(Black with tints of green), she had cat-like eyes that mesmerized them, an adorable heart shaped face, her hair was in a high ponytail yet still reached her waist, her face screamed 'bored' but nonetheless she was pretty and unforgettable.

6 of the regulars nodded. The other two were still watching the photo dumbly.

"She was in a magazine cover that my sister read" Inui

"I saw her at a party" Fuji

"She was at this morning's opening ceremony as the freshmen representative" Kawamura

"Fsssssh" Kaidoh

"She was at the student council meeting" Oishi

"English class" Tezuka

"Eh? But she doesn't look that old yet, she looks more like she's 9 or something" Eiji commented playfully with his Cheshire cat grin

"No, I think she looks more like she's 8" Momo contradicted

The coach started massaging her poor aching head, "This, is my goddaughter, Echizen Ryoma"

Silence enveloped the dug out before the covers covering the tennis rackets shifted, a can of Ponta rolling towards the coach's feet, grabbing everyone's attention before the covers spoke

"Hai? Sensei?" The voice was dripping with sleep, it was murmured and incoherent, though it was soft and clearly from a girl.

The entire regulars and the coach surrounded the covers, noting that the rackets had been shoved (poorly) to a shaded ground in the dug out, everyone nodded to Fuji to open the covers and he nodded back, grabbing a part of the covers before pulling back only to find said girl asleep, peacefully, wearing the female uniform with roller skates on.

"Nya~~~ It's her!" Eiji yelled before falling down, struggling against the covers Fuji had thrown at him as they watched the girl shift, her face twitching a little

"271" She murmured in her sleep, earning a few snickers from the group

"Well, that's her alright" The coach murmured enough for them to hear.

"What do we do with her coach? She seems fast asleep" Oishi worried

"Oi! Ryoma! Wake up!" She yelled, the regulars stepped away, covering their eardrums

The girl continued to sleep

"Momo, get me a bucket of water" She commanded angrily

"Eh? She didn't wake up after that?" Momo asked incredulously, avoiding having to go anywhere till a bucket was thrown at him

"Ry-o-ma!" She yelled again, nothing

"Nya~~! Fuji! What did you that for?" Eiji yelled, the girl stirred again

Everyone shushed him

"Eiji-sempai, could you say that again? Only the first part, louder though" Inui asked, notebook ready

"Uh, ok? NYYYYYAAAA~~~~!" He yelled out loud, stopping the games, the other tennis members had, Momo came back.

The girl suddenly sat up, eyes wide open "Karupin!" She yelled, before looking around her and calming down

"Ah, am I late for class?" She asked sleepy again, rubbing her eyes as everyone starred at her in disbelief, school had ended an hour ago and tennis practice would end an hour later.

"You mean to tell me you haven't been to class the whole day?" Their coach, Sumire scolded angrily

"Eh? It's been a whole day already? What time is it?" She asked with a sleepy yawn, rubbing her eyes cutely

"Five o'clock" Oishi answered, a slight blush on his cheeks

"Hmm, I am suppose to be somewhere…." She mumbled, grabbing her brown bag and tennis bag from underneath the bench she sat on

"Ryoma, didn't your oyaji tell you to be here at four thirty?" Sumire asked exasperated

"Well, I remember him telling me to meet you…." She trailed off, her head still blurry from sleep

The coach sighed, despite popular belief, when it came to Echizens, two heads were definitely not better than one. The girl was getting ready to stand up till…

"Echizen-san, want to play a game?" An over excited Momo asked, the pail of water forgotten in the sidelines.

The girl silently assessed the man, looking him up and down. She shook her head after a few seconds.

"It would go against my honor code to fight someone handicapped" She spoke carelessly with a sigh, he could have been good enough for a warm up too, to bad, she upped and was about to start going away only to be stopped as she crouched down low, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Eh? Echizen-san is something wrong?" The tensai asked, his usual smile gone

"M-my legs fell asleep" she mumbled. Talk about Epic fail. The regulars, except a few, snickered at the adorable maiden, crouched like a ball.

Authors note: Ok, first story, not that great I am guessing but, at least give me some reviews, I'll try updating a lot I promise!


	2. A Deer in the Presence of a Tigress

_SLEEP…_that was the only thing that plagued the young girls mind as she sat, but then said girl couldn't do just that as her godmother watched her intently, she deserved the sleep anyway (partially), she did do her job (somewhat) and she got to school, (though she skipped every subject but the first one). Deep in thought she had slowly drifted to sleep, her cat-like golden eyes droopy.

Sadly enough, in her half conscious state, she had yawned, alerting her godmother that she was about to fall asleep again.

"You better not be planning on falling asleep again Ryoma" The (much) older of the two scolded, her face in a frown that revealed her wrinkles

"But I am so…" A yawn escaped "Sleepy" Her voice was soft and careless.

The older of the two stared, trying to remember with her slowly deteriorating memory how to keep her awake if even just for an hour. It had been done before and she would do it again, now if she could only remember what she had done a year ago….

"Grandmother!" A sudden very feminine voice exclaimed and her face lightened.

"Ah, Sakuno, is practice done already?" She asked with a closed eye smile, she opened her eyes, only to notice that her granddaughter was holding two cans of grape Ponta, she had never liked the taste so much but it had triggered something.

An image of a small refrigerator, filled to the brim with grape Ponta intruded all of a sudden, before an image of a bored Ryoma who was wide awake filled her mind.

Oh, so that was it, her granddaughter handed her the drink, eyeing the strange sleepy girl at the same time, a question already in her eyes. The pretty girl looked to her as well, acknowledging her presence as she continued to massage her calves. Her bored eyes suddenly rested on the can in her hands. After a while, those bored eyes suddenly brightened.

She stood up, despite her legs' protest and quickly walked to the girl with really long braided pigtails, her eyes shining with mirth, her face light and adorable, her hands clasped the new girls hands in her own, the can of Ponta in between.

Sakuno, blushed, she couldn't help it, the girl was so pretty and yet so brazen, she unknowingly held her breath as the girls striking face turned into an adorable puppy dog look (complete with tears at the edges), she hadn't notice though as those eyes captivated her, that the girl had taken her drink into her own hands until they had lost eye contact.

Sumire laughed as she watched her goddaughter down the drink, a small smile on her face. This laughter though had caught the attention of two regulars who were conversing, one had just finished his game, and the other was watching it and so had struck conversation with the other. They looked curiously upon the group, wondering what was so funny.

"Ah! My drink!" The braided hair girl exclaimed in woe over her drink

Ryoma on the other hand sighed in relief as she finished the drink "You, my friend, have very good taste" She wiped her mouth with her knuckle, suddenly feeling refreshed and anew.

Hey, nothing could be better than free Ponta in her world, other than her pet cat that is, and Japanese cuisine, definitely. She suddenly felt her back getting slapped by her laughing godmother, both girls looked up.

"Now that your awake Ryoma, how about a match with one of our regulars?" She asked with a smile.

"But…their…_boys"_ she whined a little, suddenly feeling tired, maybe she could steal the old lady's Ponta too. It wasn't like she had anything against boys particularly; it was just that most of the men that she had met were annoying people.

Then again, Sumire just ignored her "Eiji, mind playing a set with Ryoma?" She asked as Eiji had just finished his game.

"Nya~!, it's fine with me" He replied with his never wavering smile.

"Ryoma?" She asked knowingly

She had no need to response as she was already in the process of taking her racket out and taking her weights off. They had picked the nearest court and had started from there.

"Ochibi-chan, you serve first!" He yelled from his side of the court

7 minutes later though, she had won the game 6-none, weirdly enough, in that short 7 minutes they had attracted a crowd, Eiji was lying on the floor, his limbs spread out in exhaustion, he was trying to even out his breath. Ryoma on the other hand switched the racket left to right though she had used her right the whole time, now she was tired again, though he had put up a good fight and had almost scored against her, she had made a comeback.

She yawned, stretching as well. "Neko-sempai, were done right?" She asked sleepily

"Kikumaru Eiji, just call me Eiji, nya~!" He yelled from his position, suddenly revitalized, he would just have to work harder from now on! Not like he had much of a choice since Inui and the other regulars were watching their game.

He got to a crouch, beaming with the joy of the game, only to have found her also lying down, only she had curled up and was about to fall asleep. His eyes widened as he saw her, and so did most of the crowd.

"Oi! Ochibi-chan! You shouldn't be sleeping there!" He yelled yet again, running towards her.

The regulars had entered the court, led by a worrying Oishi and a smiling Momoshiro. Oishi fussed over the girl as she had finally gone to sleep. A certain tensai on the other hand had noticed the girls' small peaceful smile, which had not been there the last time he saw her sleeping. He smiled, though to others it would look more like a smirk, to those who knew him well could clearly see him smile.

Without thinking, he took off his jersey and covered her from the cool breeze before carrying her (bridal style) to the dug out, surprising a lot of people and himself. Only when he had placed her down on the bench and had turned around could he see the glare from another regular.

~~~~~~~After practice ~~~~~

"Coach, what do we do about Echizen-san?" Oishi started fussing again after they had showered, it was getting dark fast and the girl was still sleeping peacefully on the dug out bench

"Well, I definitely can't bring her by myself" She stated with a huff, her back was killing her!

"We can't leave her all alone here!" Momo suddenly exclaimed

"Fsssssssh" For once the two agreed

After much debating, shouting and arguments, they had finally agreed to all go to Ryoma's house together alongside their coach as their chaperone. Fuji ended up carrying her once again as his jersey covered her, much to the annoyance of a certain regular….The trip was noisy, yet other than that, surprisingly uneventful.

Ryoma was a surprising girl, much so when they arrived at the hotel, then they were really surprised. The hotel was large and luxurious, they were silenced as they were overwhelmed by all the sparkling lights and the excess of riches that surrounded them all of a sudden, only when they had reached the elevator had they burst out.

"Such a luxurious place!" Momo exploded happily, Eiji nodded furiously only leading to Oishi's worries about whiplash.

"Ii, Data" Inui mumbled softly.

"A-ah, we shouldn't be too loud, Echizen-san might wake up" Kawamaru softly interceded

"Nothing can wake this log up" The coach suddenly spoke.

Only Tezuka and Fuji had stayed quiet throughout the whole thing as Kaidoh and Momo had almost, ALMOST, gotten into a fight. Her room was another wonder as well. It was larger than most of their rooms, it was surprisingly clean until they had reached her bedroom and….it seemed like she was living alone as the room had only one bedroom.

"Hey, coach, isn't it dangerous to live alone?" Eiji asked as they checked out her plasma T.V.

"Yup" She answered simply

"Then why does Echizen live alone?" Momo asked, on the red couch.

"Ah, I'll leave her to tell you, it's a story that should come from her" She replied, her face had hardened, making her wrinkles all the more visible.

In her bedroom though…..

Fuji had laid the girl to her bed watching her intently with his blue eyes (he opened his eyes), she was pretty, and that was without question. His hand had brushed off a stray hair from her pale face as he continued to watch. He was about to take his jersey from her only to have her hand pull it back.

"No Karupin, not yet" She mumbled sleepily

He had to stifle his laughter and left the room, leaving his jersey in her hands. His exit though came unseen, as the dynamic duo (Momo and Eiji) had opened the refrigerator with a banging force only to end up at the bottom of a pile of canned Ponta.

"Ah! Momo! Eiji!" Oishi began fussing again, one of these days he would have a heart attack at the rate they were going.

"It would seem like she only eats take out" Inui suddenly spoke as he watched an unfinished box of dim sum on the table. "Ii, data" He finished with his catch phrase

"I did tell her to learn how to cook if she was going to live alone" Sumire suddenly thought out loud "Now when was that…" She tried to remember, scouring her memories as the regular's just sweat dropped.

A few minutes of destruction and mayhem later….

The bedroom door swung open with so much force it banged back, only to be stopped by her arm (the other was holding her Himalayan cat), she had taken off her blouse, her hair was let down and her knee length socks. She yawned.

"Huh?" Was the only word that got out of her as she watched them in a drinking competition, using her own collection of Ponta. The group had silenced like a deer in the presence of a tigress. The awkward and yet deadly silence ensued. Their captain started to massage his weary mind…this was one tiring day, and it hadn't even ended yet!

Authors note: The next chapter will have more dialogue and Ryoma in it since she's awakened, hopefully enough I can explain some more of the story there. Thank you so much for the reviews! I hope the story will receive more soon! I hope to be able to update daily at the least and weekly at most. I do know the feeling of having to wait long for an update. PLEASE REVIEW! I am working as hard as I can just for reviews!


	3. A One in a Million Girl

Authors note: I thought about it overnight and came to the conclusion that maybe I was taking the story too fast all of a sudden, what do _you_ think? Oh, and Please do review! I am updating as fast as I can so...PLEASE REVIEW!

It was a beautiful day; the sun was shining brightly upon the busy city of Tokyo. The petite girl was on the elevator after having had drank ten cans of Ponta that morning. She was insistent on staying awake to watch her work today. The elevator stopped on the 20th floor and in came the usual morning crowd. They smiled at her and, for the first time since she began her morning routine, she smiled back. It dazzled the group to silence.

She had arrived in school, her smile having had calmed down to a smirk only for it to turn into a smile again as her current favorite sempai awaited for her near the school gates. His ever-closing eyes and angelic (sadistic) smile was on his face. She stopped in front of him.

"Good morning Ryoma-chan" He greeted

"Morning, ah, I don't know how but I found your jersey at my place, I am not sure whether to say thank you or not but I cleaned it" She said nonchalant, not noticing that a few other students had over heard.

"Shall I walk you to your class Ryoma-chan?" He offered, yeah, it _was_ almost time, but he was Fuji, he'd get by somehow.

"No thank you" She declined, already walking away

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><p>When the pretty girl had arrived at her homeroom class, she had shocked the whole class, glances were exchanged as she took her seat at the back, taking a much large boys seat though said boy didn't protest at all, despite her height, she didn't really need to study much anyway, she'd live.<p>

She was about to lie down till she remembered the very fact of why she had wanted to be awake today. _No, not yet._ She sat straight and fought off drowsiness, thankfully enough, since she had disappeared without any excuse yesterday, she had been called to the front a lot, that was one thing that kept her awake, the other was her seatmate, a loud mouthed unibrowed guy that had gotten himself into more detentions for being caught talking way too much. Now if she could only remember his name….

She was _suppose _to eat lunch alone in the roof, but was joined by 5 others, mainly her seatmate, his three cronies, the girl she had stolen Ponta from yesterday, and her friend. They had introduced themselves to her sometime before but she was too focused on trying not to sleep to have remembered it.

"Ryoma-sama!" Tomoka yelled with glee.

Did she mean her? Damn she was sleepy again, abandon lunch! She stood up slowly, just nodding to the group, intent on getting some more Ponta in her despite having almost not eaten anything the whole day and the previous day. Ponta was worth it, it always would.

"Ah, I-if were disturbing you Echizen-san then we can go" Sakuno suddenly chided.

She looked back, the others were still standing, awaiting her verdict, her passive face brightened, it had been doing a lot of that today, "Nope, I am fine, just forgot to do something" She had dazzled yet another group with her smile today.

As she slowly walked around (she got lost) the fairly large school, people stared, whether in awe or envy she didn't care, all she wanted was a vending machine that had her delicious drink. Hopefully she'd get it before lunch was over or she'd be skipping the first class.

She opened a random door, wanting to ask someone where she could find a vending machine, but was silenced as she saw Tezuka, Fuji and Oishi (with a few large bruises) conversing. Oh, so she must be in the 3rd year corridor. The noisy class had silenced at her sudden entrance, and had maintained the awkward silence as she closed the door, remembering a path from here on out.

"Eh? Is Echizen-san lost? Maybe we should help her out…" Oishi contemplated.

The two just ignored his woes "Saa, we should cancel practice today Tezuka, it seems like most of the regulars wont be coming to school" he spoke, his sadistic smile growing larger.

True enough, since most of the regulars called in sick (unable to move), Tezuka sighed, massaging his forehead, feeling yet another large migraine, sooner or later he was going to snap. Oishi, who had the least bruises amongst the regulars who were in the line of fire when thing got messy last night just continued to ramble on.

Ryoma sneezed, sniffling cutely right after another can of Ponta. Her face scrunched up yet again as she felt another sneeze coming, she couldn't get to her handkerchief fast enough and so ended up stopping her sneeze, Momo must be talking about her.

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><p>Classes, were a breeze for the little genius and since it was still the second day, they only took math for their diagnostic test. She was home schooled before therefore was more advanced in the subjects than normal students, why she still went to school though was something even she didn't know.<p>

There came two things with having an English class for the last subject, one, she couldn't skip since it was a third year lesson, two, it was the easiest subject she had, one she thought not necessary for her even since she had lived in America for most of her childhood. She was contemplating on what kind of Enlish subject they were going to give her next year since she was already in the third year class when she noticed she had three of the tennis regulars in this class with her.

One was Tezuka, who nodded to her as she passed by, another was Eiji, who wasn't there currently….and the other was Fuji, who, thankfully, was at the front while she was at the middle of the class, he had just smiled at her as she passed.

"Psst" Someone beside her suddenly whispered.

She glanced to the side briefly, noting the letter that said: _Pass to Kimi, _she just nodded, it was small and curt, before receiving the letter, Kimi was the person behind her and had also noticed the letter. She passed the letter silently, just staring into space as she watched the blackboard become filled with english phrases.

"Psst" The person from her other side took her attention a minute after

This letter also said: _Pass to Kimi, _she sighed and passed the letter. This girl must be really popular to be getting so many letters during class. The same thing kept happening a lot all throughout the two periods and thankfully enough, they didn't get caught all throughout class.

"Arigatou Echizen-san" Kimi, which was actually a nickname for Kimiryu, and was actually a really tall guy, beamed at her, though with a slight blush on his cheeks.

She just nodded in response, preparing her stuff to go watch tennis practice, her godmother would be waiting for her, as was the price of her masterpiece, she unknowingly let a small smile escape. She remembered something; she was supposed to report to the student council today.

She sighed, being freshmen representative wasn't fun at all…..with Ryoma's ever so lucky fortune, the council was in a meeting when she arrived with the papers. They had quieted down as she came in, without so much as a greeting, left the papers at the president's desk and then left as silently as she had entered, the council watching her every move.

"Ah, is she always like that?" The president asked Oishi since he had seen her on the tennis grounds yesterday after school.

Oishi, who was still sweat dropping shrugged "It's rare to see her awake for so long" he replied before they continued with their topic before the awkward silence.

On her way out of the council's room, she had bumped her favorite (thought that favor was wavering) sempai, who was actually late for the council meeting since he had cleaning duties. He smiled at her, his eyes still closed.

"Hello Ryoma-san, is everything ok?" He asked politely.

She just nodded, starring straight at his eyelids, contemplating the mystery. '_Maybe he glued them close' _she wondered. Fuji, the tensai that he was, felt her eyes on his (eyelids) and open his eyes just to amuse her (mostly himself), just to see what her reaction would be.

Her eyes widened (as his opened), revealing those blue orbs, they were intense and yet gentle a weird unlikely mixture, if felt like her soul was getting pierced and yet she couldn't take her eyes off of them. Fuji on the other hand was surprised as well. When almost everyone retaliated or shivered with fear when they saw his eyes, she just looked curious and stared him straight through them, watching with a childish fascination. A one in a million girl. She had took a step forward, a dangerous step with meaning, to get a better look at those mysterious sapphire orbs, only seeing his eyes and not the ever so slight blush on his cheeks as she took her step.

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><p>Author: Thank you so much for reviewing the last chapter, I am so happy my first story is getting such good reviews! Though any type of review is welcomed!<p> 


	4. Ryuuzaki blackmails

~~~~~~~~~ For those who wondered what happened to Momo

Momo groaned, did he just get beat up by a girl? Well, sure it was his fault for having had drank most of the Ponta there in her fridge, and yeah, he did start the whole thing but…damn…she didn't have to get _that _mad. He already had that sprain on his ankle, now he had purple bruises that kept changing color on his skin.

"_Echizen_" he growled, he couldn't even twitch his fingers without ending up in pain.

He groaned yet again as he shifted to the other side. Why oh why did that girl have to be so strong? She was supposed to be a midget right? Then again her recklessness surprised him. He was supposed to be the number one reckless person in Seigaku! No pretty girl was taking what he had worked so hard on! He'd just have to do something about that.

~~~~~~~~~~ For those who wondered what happened to Eiji

Eiji was in a similar situation, though the color of his bruises stayed to the color of blue. Every visible part of his skin hurt like hell, he couldn't bear looking at another can for fear of the demon Chibi. Who knew a chibi could be that strong? His family had fussed over him like Oishi's usually fussing. Hey, he couldn't turn down a challenge from Momo right?

It was embarrassing enough explaining to them _why_ he had bruises everywhere. All they did was laugh and slap his poor aching back, he'd just have to work harder next time, he also had to train more since Ochibi did beat him in singles. Hmm, she was quiet an interesting chibi.

~~~~~~~~~~ For those who wondered what happened to Inui

Inui though, was sulking. How Echizen knew that he was the one who had planted into Momo's mind that they should have a Ponta drinking contest he would never know. All he cared about now was fixing his Data book, which was in tatters in fornt of him, as Echizen had ruthlessly torn it apart in her fit of fury, he would just have to get more data, hmm, maybe even a new thicker notebook if he could. He laughed evil(y) to himself.

~~~~~~~~~~ For those who wondered what happened to Kaidoh

Kaidoh was in the process of self-training, after he had seen a little midget girl put his strength to shame, he had to do something to improve himself. He was doing weight lifting, push-ups, curl-ups, hand stands(ok that's a joke, I cant even imagine him doing that) and even pull-ups a hundred times over.

Though it was worrying his family that he had skipped school just for training, no one spoke against it, as his muscles were already large enough as it was. Well, one day wouldn't hurt right? And it was just the second day so nothing important would be happening.

"Fsssssssh" He'd just catch up anyway.

~~~~~~~~~~ Back to Ryoma

Our little heroine though, had just separated from some intense staring. She felt wide awake and even….energized, it was hard to forget such intense blue eyes that had stared at her so fiercely. Her face was hot, may be she was getting sick all of a sudden from being awake too long; she _was _feeling lightheaded all of a sudden. Though, strangely enough, she didn't feel sleepy at all anymore, hmm, maybe she should play some tennis to get herself tired faster.

All, this deep thinking while walking, had Ryoma doing something very un-Ryoma like of her, she tripped. Yes, the ever so graceful Ryoma tripped. Well, she didn't fall, she was too much of a Ryoma to fall, she had placed a leg in front and had gotten her footing back together. Thankfully enough, there was no one around. Yup, she should definitely play some tennis today.

She had arrived, only to be met with non-regulars, as most of the regulars were busy right now. _They'll have to do_, she thought as she took out her black and white racket. She swung the racket, getting the feel, before running over to her grandmother. Her walk towards the court had calmed her warm face down but the thought of those sapphire eyes still haunted her mind.

"Obaa-san, I am playing" She suddenly declared, surprising her godmother.

Hmm, maybe getting her into the tennis club was going to be easier than she had anticipated after all, Ryuuzaki thought to herself. She smirked as she watched her goddaughter. Her eyes were wide open like she had just drunk a hundred cups of coffee, she was awake for once, and she was willing too. Then she started wondering what could have woken her up so much.

"Ok, only if you join the boys tennis team" She said, hopefully enough, she was too awake to notice.

"Sure, whatever" She rushed before walking out of the dug out, not even thinking on it as she started tennis games left and right. Ending them just as fast.

It was mayhem in the tennis courts when the four regulars (Tezuka, Fuji, Oishi and Kawamaru) arrived. Dead bodies were piled in one court, another court though was as crowded as it was noisy, and the sounds of a tennis ball smashing the net rang, before the noise of an awed crowd rang. They found their coach, on top of the referee's seat, watching over the games with a smirk.

On one side of the court was an over energized Ryoma, smashing the tennis balls back to her opponents, ruthlessly over exerting herself. On the other side of the court was a poor third year student. His eyes wide with disbelief, he was getting beat by a girl. The four regulars watched in silence till Tezuka had had enough.

"Everybody, 50 laps!" Tezuka yelled. She was slaughtering his team, be they regular or not, and he still had to watch over them.

His little outburst though, stopped the massacre and had the desired effect. They groaned, all of them together as if rehearsed, unluckily for them, it was too loud for his taste.

"60 laps!" He increased and they ran, even without Inui's scary bubbling juice nobody would go against the captain they worshipped, nobody, except the girl.

She starred in confusion, not understanding what they were doing, well, she was excused, must have been asked by coach to do it right? Said coach had come down from the referees seat as she noticed Tezuka, that would mean her little game was done then. She walked over to her goddaughter and dragged her to the dug out, followed by the regulars.

"You sign here, here and…here" She stated, pushing a few papers to her confused goddaughter.

"What are these for?" She asked with a cute tilt of the head.

"Approval papers for you to join the boys tennis team, you wanted to play tennis, you agreed to the terms a while ago, unless of course, if you think your not strong enough for the boys tennis club" She happily responded.

Ryoma was caught in between, did she really agree to that? Aw man, now she'd be busier than ever with her part time job still in tow. Did she _want _to join? No, over filling the plate would be bad for her sleep. Ryuuzaki, feeling the tension creeping to her goddaughter as she had her "inner conflict" with herself, thought of something to "push" her to the right answer. She bent down and whispered something only to be used when her goddaughter was in conflict with herself.

"If you don't join now, I'd just like to remind you that I have baby pictures of you and a photocopier" She snickered to add effect.

The regulars watched the little exchange, half-wondering what their coach was doing to have scared the little girl.

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><p>Authors note: Thank you so much for the support! I hope the story gets more reviews soon from you guys! Be it good or bad, PLEASE REVIEW! I am not sure if I can update tomorrow but maybe the next day! Ah, and a shout out to Prescilla, my friends friend who has been helping me! Thank you so much!<p> 


	5. The bottomless pit she calls a stomach

Not in a million years would Ryoma have ever thought she'd be in this sort of position, sure, the girls team weren't that serious about tennis and yeah, she might not have even tried to join had it not been for her godmothers blackmail but joining the boys tennis club just took the cake. She'd had never done something so strange before. Well, at least this topic got her forgetting about those intense sapphire orbs…for now.

Ryoma wasn't the only person feeling awkward right now. The regulars, who were witnesses to her signing the contract, were feeling pretty awkward themselves, playing against a girl was one thing, training with a girl was another, sure they had seen her beat Eiji no sweat, and they even saw her bash Momo's head yesterday and yes, maybe she had defeated half of the non-regular members as well and left them psychologically damaged. Still, they weren't used to it (it, referring to training with a girl) after hanging out with men for so long. Though they masked this awkwardness well.

Ryuuzaki on the other hand was beaming with pride at her work. She had finally forced Ryoma to join the tennis team and would be a valuable member. Now, if she could only convince Tezuka, he would definitely be a key obstacle in her plan, to allow Ryoma, she wouldn't like it one but either, to join the ranking tournament, and if she could convince Ryoma, to actually try during the ranking tournament. First thing on her list though was to find out what had Ryoma so energized….

Training was a breeze for Ryoma, except for the fact that the guys kept staring weirdly at her, other than that she was ok, and it was easy even. She'd have to ask for a much harder practice than the others. Oh, and she'd have to remember to go to work today. She walked to the dug out, she was just about to ask for the practice schedules so she could balance it out with work, when she was interrupted by her bottomless pit.

Her stomach grumbled, it was loud and long. The poor maiden blushed, just remembering that she had skipped too many meals already. Ryuuzaki laughed out loud.

"Now, when was the last time you had a meal Echizen-san?" Oishi, who was beside coach, along with the other regulars since they had finished practice already, asked worriedly, though he was still trying to control his snickers.

"Monday" She mumbled too low for some to hear.

"Eh! Monday! That was two days ago Echizen-san!" Oishi started fussing yet again, only this time, accompanied by Ryuuzaki sensei and Kawamaru.

For a fraction of a second there, Fuji's eyes opened, how does someone survive two days without food? Before those blue eyes closed yet again, Ryoma's skin was paler than the picture sensei had shown them the day before, in the picture, her skin was glowing though still pale, now it was the sickly kind of pale. How could he not have seen before?

Her stomach grumbled again, her blush growing deeper in color, as she looked away, Ryuuzaki sensei bursting out in laughter again.

"Just tell me where the food court is already" She mumbled cutely.

"The food court is only open during lunch Echizen-san" Kawamaru softly chided

"Hmph!" She turned her head to the side abruptly, refusing to look them in the eyes.

"Saa, why don't we take you to a food shop Ryoma-san?" Fuji asked, his angelic (evil) smile back on his face. She nodded abruptly.

"Ah, I have to watch over my grandmother today" Oishi suddenly exclaimed.

"I have to help out at the shop, seems like the package of fish didn't arrive yesterday" Kawamaru shyly spoke.

The three remaining looked to Tezuka, he shook his head and they didn't question why.

"Saa, seems like it's only you and me Ryoma-san" Fuji's angelic (evil) smile, softened into a real one slowly.

"Practice isn't over" A hidden question towards her godmother was in the statement.

"Well, your stomach begs to differ, get some food in you or your off the tennis club, and you know what that means" The threat was crystal clear.

Ryoma glared freely at her godmother, remembering those very pictures.

"Oh and be here tomorrow morning 6 o'clock sharp for morning practice" Her godmother added.

"6? I don't think I can make it, 6 is when I usually wake u-" She was silenced as her godmothers glare threatened her with the pictures once again. "I'll see what I can do" She sighed.

"Make sure she gets home Fuji, and before 8 if she hasn't eaten the entire shop" Her godmother jokingly told Fuji, now ignoring her goddaughters glare just before her stomach grumbled once again.

"Well, we better go now Ryoma-san" Fuji spoke, his voice had a hint of laughter in it.

"Hai, Fuji-sempai" She answered just as cheerfully

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><p>They ended up in a burger shop, strange for a first date, yes, but then again, neither of the two would ever admit that they were on a date, especially Ryoma who was oblivious to the words, date, and boyfriend. Sadly enough, those were the words whispered by passerby's along with the words "cute", "young love" and "aw".<p>

"Neh, Fuji-sempai, can I ask you a question?" She pleaded, her eyes, wide with curiosity. He nodded. "Do you have a brother?" She asked suddenly, taking a bite off of her fifth hamburger to date.

The question had caught him off guard. Why the sudden interest in my personal life Ryoma-chan? Then again, since she doesn't interact much, she wouldn't know much about other families.

"A younger brother, yes, how about you Ryoma-san?" He asked politely, munching on his 1st burger. She shrugged. Not really answering the question and yet not avoiding it too much either.

"How about a sister?" She asked, she had always wanted an older sister. The closest thing she had to a sister was Nanako-chan and she was usually busy with college and her part time job.

"I'll only answer if you answer my questions too Ryoma-san" He had been tricked once, the great Fuji would not be tricked twice.

"Hai" She answered simply.

"Yes, I do have a sister" He answered with a real smile for once, remembering Yumiko, it was like remembering a joke as the image that came into his mind first were her cards. "Why the sudden interest Ryoma-san?"

She shrugged "I don't have any direct family right now" She then stared on her 6th burger.

"Not even you parents?" He asked with surprise, he had met classmates who lived alone and their reason was usually because their parents were deceased or were having family difficulties. He hoped it wasn't any of the two.

Should she tell him? He'd just get pitiful look in his eyes- Then again she couldn't see his eyes. That got her thinking about his eyes again, distracting her from the question as she went into a daze. Fuji on the other hand, thinking that she had gotten uncomfortable with the question since she stopped eating all of a sudden decided to change topic.

"….-after, Ryoma-san?" Were the words that Ryoma snapped back to.

"Ah, I wasn't listening" She stated simply.

"I asked if you wanted to go anywhere after Ryoma-san" He'd just pull some string later on to find out about this mysterious girl

"Oh, no thanks, I've got work to do" This raised an elegant brow from the tensai. Work, at her age? She must be talking about homework. Then again, you never know when it comes to Ryoma.

"Ah, I'll take you home then"

"Alright then" She should change out of her uniform of course. She had by now, finished 7 hamburgers and two large glasses of vanilla milk shake, and yet, she still had that lingering feeling of hunger...

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><p>Authors note: I hope I am not confusing the story. I am going to reveal Ryoma slowly. Thank you for all the support and reviews that the story has received so far. I hope it gets more, sooner. Review Please!<p>

P.S. What's a disclaimer? Someone told me I should place it buy I am not sure what to put on it…


	6. Her Faithful Cat

Authors note: I am note sure if Inui has any relatives or not but here he has an older sister. I am so sorry for not having had updated sooner, I just watched a baseball game on the television and was so hooked on it. Thank you for all the reviews! I hope the story gets more reviews soon! I will try my best to make the chapters as long as possible!

"You can drop me off here Fuji-sempai, it would be a hassle to come back up 23 floors just to get me to my room" Ryoma spoke.

He just nodded but didn't move away until he saw her safely inside. On the way to the hotel they had talked about the weirdest stuff really. Their topics were mostly about tennis and food, but then again, they still hadn't found common ground between the two of them. Yet. With that thought in mind, he walked peacefully away.

Ryoma on the other hand was in peace. She didn't know why, but talking to Fuji-sempai had been and sadistically challenging. He had tried making her talk about her personal life now and again but it was mostly (suspiciously) for blackmail. Oh well, she knew how to dodge weird-o questions like that.

She changed into simple jean shorts, a white tank top underneath a white polo with a loose belt on her waist, she had a few metal bracelets on each arm accompanied by a pure simple old ring on her left middle finger, and she had pulled her hair into a high ponytail. She grabbed her rubber shoes and professional camera and went off to work after feeding Karupin her favorite Salmon fish. She popped on one of the earplugs to her ipod when she had reached the elevator.

Her kind of work was easy really; she was a professional cameraman (woman) for a very well known modeling agency. How she came across this job was another story. It was a dare by one of her old friends to try out being a model, ironically enough she landed on the cover (The one Inui's sister read) but the cameramen couldn't work with her since she was either too bored or too sleepy. And so since she sucked so badly at truth or dare and ended up with dare again, she applied for the cameraman position instead, which was a lot more enjoyable really.

It wasn't that she needed the money, no, far from it since she had received a fortune after that "incident". She just needed something to do in her free time; she didn't care about her salary but that she enjoyed what she did. (A.k.a. not sleep though the whole thing) For once, her cocky smirk worked to her advantage. The models were so annoyed by it that they showed so much passion (hatred) during a shoot that it immediately became successful.

"Mada Mada Dane" She told the model in between the shoot. Annoying the poor girl more yet bringing up more beautiful photo's for a successful shoot. And since she got 250,000 yen (that's the number I got from researching on the net, not sure if it's real) for every shoot her bottomless pit was more than paid for.

Other than her annoying smirk and catch phrase, everyone was smitten by her exotic looks. Even though she ate most of the buffet on the table they didn't mind too much. As long as their little princess was satisfied.

"Echizen-san!" A co-worker yelled.

"Yeah?" She asked, yelling wasn't really something she liked so much.

"Thank you for all your hard work!" The co-worker yelled again

She smiled at her before simply replying, "Whatever, I need to sleep now".

She lied. Even after work she still wasn't sleepy. She couldn't help it; the Ponta was finally kicking in. She was walking around aimlessly in the late afternoon her camera dangled on her small neck; practice should be done by now unfortunately she had the itching feeling to play tennis.

Things were going her way for once as she heard the familiar sound of a quarrel along with the words of "doubles" and "tennis partner". She smiled to herself and began walking to the sound.

"Ah, Ponta-stealing-sempai, you're alive?" She asked the astounded Momo who was, strangely enough, healed.

"Barely! No thanks to you or Inui!" He yelled as if scolding the girl.

"Really? So when do you start repaying me for all the lost Ponta you drank, Ponta-stealing-sempai?" She asked with a smirk. She had thought him dead for at least 3 days…something must have happened.

"Isn't beating me and the others enough of a payment to you?" He yelled, horrified

"Nope, now buy me a Ponta" She commanded, nonchalant.

"Only if you play doubles with me" He demanded in return, She looks to the two guys she had ignored upon her arrival, they both looked irritated and angry.

"Doubles?" She asked with curiosity. She had played doubles before, but that was in America, she had learned that Japanese people took Tennis more seriously.

A FEW SETS LATER

"Not. A. Word" She panted out, leaning on the much larger Momo, a can of Ponta in one of her hands as a girl they had met, Ann Tachibana, laughed at their predicament.

"I am sorry Echizen-san, you guys just really look funny!" She giggled in between as she gave Momo, another canned drink.

"Do not" He childishly replied after he gulped down another can.

"Ok. I admit, getting your buts whipped isn't a nice feeling but….smile!" She exclaimed clicking the button that made the camera flash brightly upon their sweaty faces and bodies, since Momo had taken off his shirt, and Ryoma had taken off her polo shirt.

They both scowled and made an attempt to grab the camera with their tired long limbs from the ever so energized Ann. They lost miserably. Ryoma scowled even more as she thought about the doubles match that had happened not a few minutes ago.

"Oh yeah, Echizen, did Buchou tell you about the Ranking tournaments tomorrow?" He asked, his breathing was calming down a little.

"I left early" She replied with a shake of her cute little head.

"Eh? He allowed you? Wah! That's unfair Buchou! Just because she's a-" He stopped as a loud growl came from Echizen.

"_That _was why he let me go early" She explained as her stomach roared once more, her sempai's stomach followed.

Ann ended up laughing and taking pictures of the blushing and hungry Momo with the hungry Echizen. This was actually the most fun she had the whole day! They ended up in the burger place she ate with Fuji-sempai a few hours' before, Ann still intent on taking their pictures, hmm, maybe photography was her real calling.

"Neh, Echizen-san, you're on the boys team?" Ann asked still nibbling on her first burger. The little girl nodded as she her mouth was still full. "Is that even allowed?" Same response.

Only then did she conclude that her new little friend didn't like talking while her other much larger friend talked too much. Sheesh, such opposites!

~~~~~~~~~A few hours later in Echizen's room~~~~~~~~~

"Karupin, do we have a book on how to play doubles?" Ryoma asked, looking around her large home.

The cat just purred before jumping on to a bookshelf, looking at the books there before dragging out a fairly large yellow book by his teeth and dropping it into Ryoma's waiting hands.

"Thanks!" Ryoma smiled cheerfully at the cat before said smile disappeared as she walked to the couch to read.

A few more hours of this and she was interrupted by a ringing of a cell phone. Did she even own a cell phone? How'd they get her number? She started destroying the room, throwing pillows off the couch, pulling up flowers from the vase and etc. Karupin just wondered how much of a genius her owner really was as the phone kept ringing from her bedroom.

"Ah! Found it!" Ryoma exclaimed, opening her phone.

"EXACTLY HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FOR YOU TO GET YOUR PHONE?" A familiar old voice huffed out loud, almost making our poor little heroine deaf

"I didn't even know I had a phone" She mumbled, rubbing her ear.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DIDN'T KNOW YOU HAD A PHONE? IT'S BEEN SITTING THERE SINCE-

Grandmother, please, you're heart rate will go up again" Now a much more shy voice interrupted the other line. Ryoma nodded from her side, agreeing fully with the voice.

"Obaa-san, something wrong?" She asked, her tone bored.

"Ah, you were gone early with Fuji so you wouldn't know. Tezuka had announced the people who would be joining the ranking tournament tomorrow. You're part of the list"

"Heard it" She yawned, being awake was taking it's toll on her.

"Eh? From where?"

"Ponta-stealing-sempai told me when we played doubles a while ago" She answered, fighting off her droopy eyes.

"Momo? He's alive? Where did you see him?"

"In the street tennis courts"

"Well, wake up early tomorrow alright? Practice starts at 6, either that or-"

"I get it, my stupid, stinkin' baby pictures" She yawned once more. If this conversation went on, she wouldn't be able to continue.

"Good" Was the simple reply, before the line went blank, and so did Ryoma as she fell peacefully asleep on the red couch. Her ever so faithful cat dragging in her alarm clocks from the other room to the living room table, oh well, anywhere her master slept, she would follow.


	7. Enter Ryoma's Embarrassing Wake Up Call

**AUTHORS NOTE: **I am **not sure** anymore if I should pick Fuji as the main dude here and so the **POLLS ARE UP**! You can v**ote as many times as you want**. I can make Ryoma end up with **any guy** in the series and try to make it look good **without editing the story**! So...other than that...**PLEASE REVIEW**!

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><p><strong>MY FAITHFUL READERS, PLEASE READ THE AUTHORS NOT BEFORE THE STORY<strong>

8 tall figures stood around the long red velvet couch where there lay the unconscious body of a very pretty girl in her silk pajamas. These eight were the special chosen team formed by Ryuuzaki sensei, for only one purpose." _To win the nationals."_

Though on the way to winning were a few more "extra mission" Like this for example. They were told to wake up 4 in the morning just to make sure this pretty little girl woke up, much to their lack of sleep. A mission was a mission no matter what.

"I dare you to wake her up" The number one reckless member of the team nudged the human cat.

"Nya~! I don't want to die yet!" He exclaimed, remembering the horrifying events of when he was last in this room. He shivered.

"10 bucks say you cant" Momo continued with the dare.

"20 bucks say you cant do it either Momo-kun!" Eiji retorted in a yell

"Eiji! Momo! Behave yourself! Other people are still sleeping!" Oishi scolded, shushing the two.

"Meow" Karupin purred as she was being petted in Kaidoh's arms in exchange for their sudden entering.

"Fsssssssshhhh" He responded to the cat as if shushing the cat as well.

"How do we wake her up?" Kawamaru asked meekly, The other 7 figures shrugged.

"Saa, who knows?" Fuji spoke, eyeing the beauty before noticing the open cell phone, It's battery was close to its end, he picked it up and found her number, he memorized it easily since most of the numbers were repeated and added it to his own cell.

Inui took note of this and silently wrote on his notebook. Tezuka also saw this, much to his never before (and never will be) seen amusement. They sat down after a small fight, ended by Tezuka's, Fuji's and Inui's threats, around the little princess who was still sound asleep despite all the noise they had made.

"How about we poke her?" Momo suggested

"Do you want to get beaten up again baka?" Kaidoh scowled

"What did you call me?"

"You heard me!" And so fight number fifty-eight for this week ensued, only to be later diffused by Oishi

"Nya~, we should wake her up now" Eiji commented, tilting his seat back, as far as he could before getting a lecture from Oishi about tilting chairs and their dangers

Unbeknownst to the group surrounding the girl, that she was undergoing a change. A change that would soon terrify and scare their pants off for the rest of the week, only some of them would know what it was, the others would stay oblivious till they got married, or a girlfriend.

Ryoma's golden eyes flashed open, it was still 4:30 in the morning but she could feel something different about her environment. She was immediately irritated by the suddenly silent group around her, which had been just as surprised as her when she opened her eyes with an immediate scowl, expecting the worst immediately.

Eiji fell off of his chair, grabbing Momo down with him. Kaidoh, let go of Karupin, who hissed as he fell on the couch near her masters pale slim legs. Inui's notebook dropped to the floor. Something that had never happened before since Inui and his notebook were never separated, Oishi took a step back, remembering the horrible moments of the day before yesterday.

"What are you doing here?" She growled, slowly rising from her sleep. The group, except Tezuka, Fuji and Kawamaru stepped back.

"Wah! Demon Ochibi!" Eiji yelled, running behind Oishi as the rest hid behind Kaidoh.

Said, demon, positioned her body so that her feet hovered over the floor, Karupin jumped to Kawamaru instead, smelling fish all over the boy. Echizen's, cat-like golden eyes widened in realization, though the men who were already scared of her took another step back, now very close to the wall as they saw her eyes widen, all fearing for their lives.

Fuji watched with curiosity and amusement at the scene that had unfolded in front of them. It was hard to scare Inui and Kaidoh. Though he could definitely do it easily with a few words (pictures), it was different since she had just met them two days ago.

Ryoma on the other hand, was feeling strange, something was….different, it made her feel thankful that she was wearing silk pajama's that wouldn't stain no matter what….Oh shoot. She ran for the bathroom, startling the group, as all they saw was a blur. She closed the door and checked….

A loud piercing scream echoed through the room, scaring the boys even more. The group ran to the door (despite their instincts), Fuji got there first and he started to bang the door. The door was immediately locked.

"D-don't come in!" Her voice was shaky though. Something unlike very unlike her.

"Echizen-san! What's wrong?" Oishi asked worriedly

"C…call Obaa-san!" She demanded not answering the question. Those who had sisters and those who didn't skip science class so often had placed two and two together and easily got to four.

Those who reached four, went to the telephone and called Ryuuzaki—sensei, telling the sleepy woman about the "situation". Suddenly understanding the younger girls anger. They had been through it before and knew what to do. Stay away and keep quiet.

"Echizen-san, what do you want to eat for breakfast?" Oishi asked as he racked the cabinets, finding ingredients here and there.

"Ponta" was her muffled reply from the other side. Calming down a little as she was told that her godmother was on her way by Inui

"Eh? _That's _what you eat for breakfast Echizen?" Momo asked in horror from the couch.

"I could make everyone some breakfast" Oishi suggested "There's enough here, is that ok with you Echizen-san?" He asked politely

"Yeah!" Was Momo's quick reply

"Nya~! Do it Oishi!" Eiji yelled after

"Baka!" Kaidoh scolded as he and Kawamaru started looking for Karupin's food, understanding the cat's needs

"It's fine" Was her quick reply

Inui slowly assessed the room; it was a big, sorry mess. It was clean the last time he was here but now it was just a mess, pillows were everywhere, a few books were scattered here and there, though the book that stood out the most was the only one about tennis, flowers and flower petals were scattered her and there and cat marks were clearly on the ground.

Fuji also noticed the change. Wondering silently on what could have happened as they sat around the couch again as they were all afraid of the couch now. Eiji on the other hand had amused himself at looking through the little princess's text messages. Leaning back yet again.

Tezuka had picked up the very book Inui was eyeing. It was a book about doubles. Strange, did the girl play doubles as well, he'd have to find out, he then looked to the bookshelf which was clearly far from her reach, now wondering how she could get books from the high place.

"Shoot! I hate being a girl!" was one of Echizen's many cursed sentences as she continued whatever she was doing in the bathroom. Those outside just sweat dropped as she continued

Something was weird though, they could hear some familiar ticking sounds, like…a bomb or something, yet the group couldn't find where the ticking sounds came from.. they ignored this as they kept pestering Oishi as he cooked along side Kawamaru. While Kaidoh was feeding Karupin fish at the corner quietly playing with the cat as well.

"Am I the only one who can hear those ticking sounds?" Momo asked skeptically.

"No, I can hear it too" Inui spoke, looking left and right for something he could use against Echizen

"Look at me Oishi!" Eiji suddenly exclaimed, ignoring the previous conversation as he did a hand-stand while the chair was tilted forward. He had his usual goofy grin on his face as he showed off.

He fell. It wasn't because his hand was tired or anything, quiet the complete opposite really. Poor Eiji fell because the door slammed open, gravity taking the chair back down alongside with the forgotten alarm clocks ringing with a domino effect.

Oishi ran to hid doubles partner, forgetting the pancakes and the high temperature he had left it on as he started fussing over him, asking for a first aid kit which Echizen threw (harshly) at Momo, pushing him off his chair before locking herself back in the bathroom. Kawamaru, noticing the pancakes, left the rice with the water running, over filling the pot.

Upon all this chaos, all I can say as I narrator is that they had to order Take-out in the end.

Ryuuzaki, ignoring all the chaos that ensued as she arrived, went to the bathroom and entered, never to be seen till 20 minutes later, shaking her head. Inui had ordered take out enough for all 10 of them, was hesitant to ask to confirm his statistics of what happened. Thankfully he was silenced by a glare.

"Our little Ryoma is growing up" She sighed, sitting on the couch.

"Do we want to know?Nya~? " A bandaged and sulking Eiji asked.

"Nope"

The entire team sighed. Girls were weird. Ryuuzaki looked around the room, sighing once again, this must be the result of the cell phone search. Damn. It was 5 now.

Inui, along with Fuji, had found some perfect blackmail material. They had found, not only an album with her pictures on it, but a camera with a picture of her with Momo, in a restaurant, eating burgers and another picture of their sweaty bodies back to back, drinking from their canned ponta's with scowls on their faces. It looked so much like a date (gone wrong). Unfortunately for Inui, Fuji had "accidentally" dropped and stepped on the memory card.

He himself didn't know what had possessed him to do that, except for the strange anger he was suddenly feeling towards Momo.

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><p><strong>I'AM SORRY IF THIS IS ANNOYING BUT I NEED EVERYONE TO READ THE AUTHORS NOTE PLEASE!<strong>

~AN HOUR LATER~

It wasn't that they were ignoring her. It was just that they were afraid for their lives and youth as she exuded a deadly aurora that chilled them to their bones. Whether it was because they were in her room without her permission or that she had just entered puberty they didn't know.

"Echizen, your in block D along with Kaidoh and Inui" Oishi announced from beside Tezuka and Ryuuzaki

She nodded stiffly.

"Alright, continue practice! Everybody 30 laps! Regulars 40!" Tezuka proclaimed only to have Inui suddenly appear beside the trio

"Those who are last get to try out my new drink" Inui chuckled, brining out a tall glass of a black tar looking liquid that bubbled and…was that drink shaking?

Ryoma being new, tilted her head really cutely with honest curiosity at the weird "drink" that Inui had taken from no where all of a sudden. She actually took a step closer to danger, red lights going on through everybody else's head as she poked the glass. Why she poked it? I have no idea. Though her poking it got the strangest reaction, the glass broke.

Yup, right then and there as she retreated her hand, the drink broke and spilled all over. Fuji was by her side in an instant, pulling her back as the black liquid (?) spilled over. Normally, he would have been happy to have the chance to test out one of Inui's drinks since they always had a very strange taste.

Now, Fuji just wanted to kill Inui for having had come close to have hurt his precious Ryoma's hand. Wait, precious? His? No time to linger about it now. He still had to glare at Inui. That, he did with gusto.

"Inui!" The rest shouted with horror as the black liquid moved (?) on Inui's face. Was it alive or something? The regulars immediately surrounded Inui, quarantining the boy with worry. Even Ryoma was left out.

Her loud-mouthed seatmate approached her with two others.

"Wah! Echizen-san! Are you alright?" One of his seatmate's glasses wearing friend asked.

"Yeah, I am fine really" She responded.

"Amazing! You've actually joined the ranking tournaments! Only third years and second years were allowed before!" Another exclaimed

"I could have easily joined the ranking tournaments as well! I have two years of tennis experience!" Her loud-mouthed seatmate yelled. His friends shushed him immediately. She rolled her eyes as the regulars continued to watch over Inui and his strange drink.

"Echizen-san, do you want to eat lunch with us later as well? Sakuno-san and Tomoka-san will join us later too" Glasses wearing boy asked.

She flashed them a quick smile, despite her sudden mood swings. She didn't really answer their question, but she reminded the rest of the tennis club that they still had laps to run when she started running all around them in a blur… Sure she was tired, but it was worth the price to stop her godmother's blackmailing ways... For now…

Unbeknownst to her, she was being watched closely by three people. One had sapphire eyes that were half open, another were deep brown chocolate eyes. The last came from her very own godmother's. Yup. She had gotten the attention of some pretty dangerous people…

**PLEASE READ THE AUTHORS NOTE: There is one on top and one below**

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><p>Author's note: The longest chapter so far! Sort of disappointed that the last chapter only got 2 reviews but…hopefully enough, this chapter will get more! Ok, now I am <strong>not so sure If I should continue with Fuji as the couple pair<strong>. So….the poll is up! Please send your vote in a review. Any pair is welcome, AND ….you can **vote as many times** as you want. Please do vote! I can pair Ryoma with **any guy** in the series so…..oh and…**PLEASE REVIEW TOO**!


	8. Let the game's begin

Ryoma looked down on the view, a sad smile playing on her face as she continued to pet her cat, the radio behind her playing a rather melancholic song , an empty can of Ponta crushed in her other hand.

"Neh, Karupin" She lifted her close friend up to look him straight in the eyes "When do you think Mama will try and kidnap me? Or will it be Ryoga-nii this time?" She asked her unresponsive cat who just licked her nose in reply

She smiled at the response and placed the cat back on her lap, just letting the music flow in the air, a stack of finished homework on one side of the room, the other side held pictures, albums and memento's

"After all, Oyaji cant hold on to me for long" She whispered as her cat went off to do whatever cats do

Her cell phone rang and she just stared at it with piercing golden eyes until the tenth ring "Hai?"

"Ryoma! Get over here! Were doing extra training in an hour! Don't be late!" Her godmother yelled before waiting for an answer

"Eh? I might be late, I need to catch up on my sleep…" She dozed, smiling at the scene of a happy family down below

"Don't be late!" A few other voices yelled, this got the pretty girl retaliating

"We'll be waiting for you Ochibi!" Eiji yelled happily before another fuss occurred and the cell phone was passed on

"You can sleep over here Ryoma-san, it's scary being alone right?" Oishi fussed even from a few miles away then another fuss was made

"Oi! You cant be late if we buy hamburgers right?" Momo asked clearly laughing

"Fssshhhh, Idiot" Was faintly heard before a fistfight was started and the phone fell into the hands of someone else

"Saa, it's either you come early or were coming up Ryoma-chan" Fuji teased

Ryoma's little smile faded away "Where are you exactly Fuji-sempai?" She asked

"I am hurt Ryoma-chan, didn't you think I'd plan ahead? Just look down" He chuckled

Ryoma did, her cat looking down with her, there she saw a fist fight slowly being broken apart by the police and an ever fussing Oishi, running around as the others fought for the phone, but the only thing she really was watching was that winning smirk on her evil sempai and the ever so stoic captain with a very annoyed face

Fuji waved up, the girl gripped the curtains tightly and glared "I thought I had an hour"

Fuji chuckled "We lied" Before the dial tone took over as he closed the phone

Ryoma slammed the curtains shut and plopped herself on the couch still glaring at the window as Karupin resumed his pose on her lap "Fuji-sempai's mean" She whined

Karupin licked one of her fingers and she instantly brightened up "You want to come with us Karupin?" She asked lying down on the couch, lifting the cat up once more

Karupin licked her finger once more, Ryoma just smiled _Why not? If Fuji-sempai wants to play, then I'll play_

An actually hour later

Ryoma came down, wearing a jacket against the cold and jeans shorts that were barely mid thigh, her tennis bag slung against her barely there chest, she pulled her hat down as she met the group below, Karupin hugged closely to her chest

"Eh? What are you guys doing here?" She feigned ignorance with a drowsy voice, her cat jumping into Kaidoh's arms

Fuji glared through his closed eyes at her, as she was fussed over by the other members. No one had ever dared to defy the prodigy before, He continued to look at her, the other members noticing his unwavering glare as well.

"Neh, Fuji-sempai, was I late?" Ryoma asked, Fuji's trademark evil grin playing on her face now

Fuji smiled back calmly as he walked towards her, stopping when they were just inches away, as he bent down, still towering over her as she had to look up "You cant bring a cat with you Ryoma-chan" He stated

She turned his back on him surprising everyone "Karupin!" She suddenly exclaimed, the cat jumped into her arms, she petted the cat with a small smile on her face, before turning back to Fuji

"Nobody can resist Karupin's cuteness" She spoke, holding Karupin up for the whole world to see.

….

She still ended up having to leave Karupin, delaying the group as the two had to be pried off. She sulked the whole way to the school.

"Neh, Ryoma, why are you so attached to Karupin?" Momo asked

Ryoma just looked up, she opened her mouth as what they thought was an answer but she yawned instead "I am sleepy already, where's the ponta?" She asked

Veins popped at this statement, but she was saved by the ever-fussing mother hen of Seigaku, who once again, worried for her diet and eating habits, trying to feed her something from their bento's

"A…bento…" She spoke, looking at the box filled with food

The others looked to her questioningly "You haven't seen one Echizen?" Kawamaru asked in amazement

She glared pointedly at him "I have" She argued before walking away to the dug out, leaving a very confused team.

~~~~Scene change~~~

"Echizen! Were going to take measurements!" Momo yelled from the dug out, only to be silenced immediately by Tezuka

Ryoma jogged over, her quick game with Kawamaru ending (in her favor of course) with Kawamaru panting behind her. The coach was already there, most of the guy's topless as she measured them.

She looked at them for a while before taking her jacket off, Kawamaru's shirt already off as he jogged to join the other male's, nobody paid her any attention until she started to take her shirt off.

"Oi! Echizen!" Momo exclaimed being the first to notice his little playmate

Everybody looked in shock "Ochibi!" Eiji yelled out loud, throwing the shirt he was about to wear at her, almost knocking her out of balance

"Hey!" She yelled in protest, her shirt going back down

Ryuuzaki and Oishi ran over to her pushing her onto the bench

"You shouldn't be taking your shirt off like that Ryoma-san!" Oishi scolded

"What has your father been teaching you!" Ryuuzaki exclaimed, throwing Eiji's shirt back at him

Ryoma tilted her head "But it's really hot" She reasoned

"Not even then!" They yelled

She frowned but listened anyway

Both of them sighed, and went off to measure the other regulars

Fuuji, noticing the lonely look on his favorite kouhai, went to sit next to her

"Saa, don't look so down Ryoma-san, it's depressing"

Ryoma's frown deepened even more but the only thing she could say was said clearly enough by her stomach, Fuuji laughed and ruffled her hair

"Hungry again Ryoma-san?" He asked, opening his smiling eyes at her

She stuck out her tongue and suddenly laid down her head on his lap "Please be quiet Fuji-sempai, I am sleepy again"

Fuuji's eyes widened in surprise as he looked up to the others, who were snickering evily but stopped as they saw his piercing eyes….

Sorry it's so late, you guys wouldn't believe how much draft's my cousin can make. Please Review!


	9. I blame you

Echizen balanced the phone between her ear and shoulder blade as she opened the fridge door quickly to grab another can of Ponta

" 'Yellow" She greeted, closing the door with her foot easily

"Ryoma" Her fathers voice acknowledged her on the other line.

The dark haired beauty stopped, her eyes widening with mischief as she heard the familiar voice, her can of Ponta mere inches away from her taunt mouth

"Oyaji" She acknowledged in return "You want anything?"

"Your playing in the Prefectuals today right?" He asked, despite the noisy background noise behind him

"Yup" She answered simply

"Single's?" He asked once more

She smirked, an evil sly little smirk she often wore when she was younger than 12.

"Who knows" She shrugged before a loud banging on her door resounded through the room

"Gotta go Oyaji, my ride's here" She spoke, closing the phone before gulping down her drink

She picked up her bag, threw her cell phone inside, and walked out, wearing a jersey similar to the one her driver was wearing

"Ready Echizen?" Momo asked, the usual big smile stuck on his face

"I didn't train in doubles for nothing sempai" The little angel spoke as he started to lead her to his bike

Both of them remembering the short yet painful yet traumatizing training they had endured the past few days, just training with the golden pair of Seigaku.

A few hours later…

Fuuji sighed in relief as he heard the two teams of doubles explain why his favorite little kouhai had been training so hard in the art of doubles, even going as far as ignoring him for such a long time

"I see…so that's the reason…" He voiced out loud

Some others of their team voiced their relief that the two hadn't gone mad for doubles either.

"- We'll teach you that playing doubles is much harder!" The enemy growled at Momo

Momo and Echizen exchanged smirks

"You sure about that? We learn pretty quickly-" Momo began as Echizen threw him a towel

Momo threw the golden-eyed beauty her usual energizer as she continued the sentence "- Just ask our sempai's, "

"Ok, Echizen, let's do our Ah-Uhn Technique" Momo spoke, not even giving the other team a chance to make a comeback

The petite girl looked up and smirked "Right" She agreed, walking to her side of the court as he did so with his side of the court.

"Ah-Uhn Technique?" Eiji asked, just as confused as the world

Inui shrugged from behind him "Your suppose to be their teacher"

Eiji just shrugged as Oishi sent him a confused look as well

"GO MOMOSHIRO! GO ECHIZEN!"

"GO FUKAWA! GO IZUMI!"

SEIGAKU!"

"GYOKURIN!"

One of Ryoma's eye twitched at the noise "It's just the prefectuals, why are they so noisy?" She asked out loud to no one in particular as the game began

"We'll make them wish they never even tried for doubles!" Izumi yelled as his partner nodded, starting service

Momo glanced at Ryoma as she glanced at him too

"Ah!" Momo yelled

"Un" She responded, though more softly as Momo returned the ball

"YAY! Their cooperating!" The Seigaku supporters yelled in joy

A few minutes later, practically all the guys were falling to their knee's at Ryoma's adorable pout

"Tezuka, did we choose the wrong pair?" Ryuuzaki asked as the score Gyyokuzen 1, Seigaku-0, was announced

"Yes, yes we did" He responded easily, not even bothering to look up at the pair

"I'll show you!" Momo yelled, doing his signature dunk smash with a large smile

"Yes! Dunk Smash!" The Seigaku team yelled, that is….until it smashed Echizen on the head.

"Yatta!" She exclaimed, a hand going straight to where the ball had hit her

"Sorry!" Momo yelled, both trying to sound apologetic while trying to conceal his laughter

She glared pointedly, looked at her racket and sighed, she practically smashed the racket on the tennis floor, earning tons of questioning stares from the crowd as she made a line, straight at the middle of her's and Momo's court, Momo doing the same.

"No more of that complicated stuff" She spoke confidently, still massaging her head

Momo nods "I'll take all the balls on the left side of the court"

"I'll take the right" She agreed

"Their dividing the court into two?"

"Just like Echizen!"

"Yeah!"

The Seigaku team sighed in relief

"Their using their original playing style" Oishi commented

Fuji nodded, happily at his side

Their opponents though, weren't as happy at the mockery that was once their technique as Momo used the Dunk Smash once more

"Such Power!" One of them yelled

"SEIGAKU!"

"Go, go SEIGAKU!"

Momo nodded as they scored another point

"There's no doubt, real men should play doubles"

Ryoma nodded behind him

Oishi exchanged confused looks with his doubles partner

"Isnt she a girl?" He asked out loud

Eiji shrugged "I am not so sure anymore Nya~"

After a few more tiresome rounds….

"SEIGAKU wins 6-2!"

"YOU TWO IDIOTS!" Ryuuzaki yelled as she pinched their cheeks

"Ah!" Ryoma yelped at the pain as Momo yelled at out the same thing

"You think you could win with just strength alone? You numbskulls!" Ryuuzaki scolded, pulling both of their cheeks till it went red

"I am never going to play doubles again" Both of them mumbled as Ryuuzaki continued to scold them, ignoring all the snickers from their teammates

Inui nodded at the other doubles team to begin. They grinned and began.

"I blame you" Ryoma mumbled under her breath, glancing at her doubles partner

Momo huffed, massaging his cheek "What a coincidence, I blame you"


	10. The Echizen Men Take Charge

A/N: Sorry for the long disappearance...school...I am to be a senior when classes start again...then again, its not an excuse that I was so busy preparing stuff for my college app...so...SORRY! Will Post the next chappie tomorrow, promise!

She sighed, having had reached her house safely from the aftermath of tonight's strange party. She hung up her jersey, Karupin walking up from his nap to welcome his mistress.

She smiled tiredly at the cat "I am back…"

A loud crash from the kitchen had her hand jumping for the door. "Ry-o-ma!" A deep familiar voice bellowed

"Oi! Chibisuke! Where have you been? It's a school night! Your not suppose to stay up late party- OYAJI! GET OFF OF ME!" Another voice bellowed from the kitchen as more crashes were heard.

She quickly scooped up Karupin, as she tiptoed to her kitchen, she peeked and watched the horror that was once a spotless paradise. "Hey" She greeted them simply

She watched on as her father had her half brother in a leg lock, laughing his head off wildly before grinning at her. "Oyaji, Ryoga" She nodded tiredly

"Where have you been?" Ryoga asked, still struggling to get his old man off of him.

She hid her yawn "Practicing…we have another game soon" She tiredly answered.

He glowered "Yeah right, practice at this time of night? What stupid bumbling idiot makes little girls practice until 8 in the evening?"

As he walked home Tezuka sneezed, Oishi fussing over him immediately.

She just shrugged carelessly, watching the two struggle "And why the hell is your fridge only stocked up on Ponta? What the hell do you eat every night?" This time her father complained loudly

The stunning girl just rolled her cat like golden eyes "I've got practice early in the morning. Leave my Ponta alone…" She spoke tiredly.

Her training regime had been tripled as both Tezuka and Inui had noticed that she hadn't been using her full capabilities yet, they were still gauging it out as she kept going beyond their expectations despite her whines of her sleep deprivation.

Karupin snuggled closer to his mistress, seeking her warmth and finding it in her embrace. She faintly smiled down at her cat "You guys be gone by the time I wake up alright?" She murmured as they continued to struggle with each other. Screams of pain and torture echoing through the night.

* * *

><p>"WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Ryoma's eyes shot open, her hand quickly grabbing the taser she kept by her bed.<p>

Karupin calmly jumped off his mistress, knowing that the combination of drowsiness and a potentially lethal weapon would not do kindly for any human within a 5 meter vicinity of his mistress.

"Karupin, stay here" Ryoma whispered, turning on her taser , her hand on the door, her body ready to spring into action.

To her surprise, the doorknob turned. She jumped back, narrowly missing the impact before thrusting the taser into her unknown intruder

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Another yell ensued in the hotel room as she pulled back the taser when her drowsy mind had finally attached the face she saw to a familiar name.

"Ryoga? What are you doing here?" She asked quietly, watching her brother's weird jerky and spasmic movement on the floor, and aftermath of the taser,

Her father grinned, his head popping out from the open door "Mornin Ryoma" he greeted

She sighed. When will she ever have a normal morning?

"Ah, your exempted from school today. Already called. Were moving to a new house" He casually spoke as if talking about the weather

She looked at him pointedly, damn it. He better have called Ryuuzaki too or her training regime would be quadrupled from the triple she had just received yesterday. Sigh, stupid impulsive Echizen males.

"Where am I going to live this time?" She asked, having only been living in the hotel for a few months.

He grinned madly as he began to pull his only male child outside his little girl's temporary room. "Someplace closer to Seigaku, its got tons of space and a tennis court too!"

She could only bite her lip to keep her anger in check "I asked where oyaji, not what was in it"

He just chuckled and messed up her hair "You'll find out soon enough Ryoma, now go pack up while I go drain all that useless Ponta down the drain"

Her eyes widened in horror "W-what did you just say you were doing to my Ponta?" She asked, her fingers quick to turn on the taser once more

He hadn't a chance to answer as sparks flew once more, another body joining Ryoga's on the floor. "Be thankful I didn't use a knife, baka Oyaji!" She yelled, leaping through the two as she ran to save what was left of her daily drink.

Karupin nudged one of the bodies on the floor as his mistress wailed over the loss of her purple milk. Humans were such strange beings….loud…noisy… his mistress sometimes as well….but then again it was only her mistress who he could tolerate.

* * *

><p>"Oyaji! Were going out to buy groceries!" Ryoga yelled from the bottom of the long grand staircase, Ryoma on the way down, her clothes casual and simple as she used the marble railway of the stairs to help her slide down.<p>

"I still say we should just hire a maid" Their perverted father sighed loudly

"Nanako is on her way" Ryoga reminded him

The two men sighed heavily as Ryoma reached the bottom of the stairs "So whats up?" She asked the two men

They looked at her incredulously; she made a fist to keep herself from slapping the two men "One day you guys cant even stand in the same room and the next you guys want to live in the same house?"

The men looked to each other and just shrugged "We made peace" They answered in chorus

She didn't believe a word they were saying but seeing as how both of them had just chorused, she wouldn't be getting an answer now for sure. "Leave my Ponta alone" She sighed

Her father frowned "I don't even know where you placed it"

A smile graced her face "And you never will" before she walked out, Ryoga trailing behind her.

As the doors closed behind the siblings walking in the afternoon sun, Karupin hastily ran down the stairs, tackling Nanjirou to the ground

"Woah there little kitty, what do you have here?" He inquired, pulling out Ryoma's vibrating cell phone from its mouth

He read the caller i.d. "Stupid…butt head…the third…huh, strange name..." He mused and stupidly answered the phone

"Hello?" He half greeted and half asked.

It was dead silence on the other end of the phone.

Nanjirou frowned "Oi, who is this?" he asked, more seriously this time.

Screams and yells of "CHIBI'S BEEN KIDNAPPED!" and "A GUY ANSWERED OCHIBI'S PHONE!" resounded on the other line, as well as other terms of concern

Nanjirou kept silent, half seething that his daughter had male friends as well, slightly forgetting that she was part of the males tennis club.

A soft toned, motherly voice finally had hold of the phone "Hello?" Nanjirou asked once more

"Good afternoon sir, is Ryoma there?" The motherly voice questioned

"Nope, she's out at the shopping district" He answered

"SHOPPING DISTRICT!" another loud and boisterous voice bellowed, a few smack sounds resounded once again.

"Momo! Stop being so loud!" The motherly voice scolded, going into a full brown rant much to Nanjirou's surprise.

Nanjirou slowly put the phone down, after having been ignored by the person on the other side. "Ryoma has strange friends" He spoke, looking down at the cat.

Karupin simply nodded before walking off to find a napping spot.

A/N: I am back~ It's finally summer time :3 Will be updating more, hopefully! I've got a brilliant idea for a new story but I want to finish this one first. Will be updating once I finish the draft for the next one, hopefully with more Fuji and Ryoma scenes...wish me luck!


	11. Of Smiles And Kidnapping

"-Be quiet! She might wake up!"

"You're the only one whose being noisy, baka"

"What did you say Mamushi?"

"Mah….please calm down…are you all sure Echizen has enough air? Maybe she cant wake up if she's lacking oxygen. But if she doesn't have oxygen then she might die! And if she dies then-"

"Oishi~ We didn't tighten the gag that much, just to keep her from screaming Nya~"

Gold eyes opened, scaring the regulars backwards at her sudden actions, she looked around and spotted her brother, gagged and tied up to a chair, he was awake as well, if his muted chuckling was any indication that he was alive and not choking on the lack of air.

She tried to speak of course, but the voice that had come out of her was incoherent and muffled, she was about to take out the gag before she noticed she was in the same position as her brother.

"Sheeeeemhaaaaaaiii!" She tried to speak once more, struggling against the binds

Silence enveloped the room

"We cannot tell buchou about this" Eiji spoke from behind a mask, his voice serious for once

The other 4 nodded in synch.

Ryoma spat out the gag in her mouth "Yeck! That better be a clean cloth and not some used cloth for sweat!" They could now see she was spitting fire.

"Don't worry Echizen-san, were not here to hurt you. Also, we had just newly bought that cloth so it should be clean" Oishi immediately fussed, having been roped by his doubles partner to help with the heinous and life threatening act of kidnapping their only (and hopefully will still be) female tennis regular

"Let me go or I'll-" She was cut off as Eiji jumped to the middle of the room

"SHHHHHH!" Eiji scolded, successfully silencing the room as his cell phone rang in his hands.

"_Hello?" _Eiji greeted

"_Eiji, you don't happen to know where the other missing members are right?" _

Eiji's eyes widened _"FUJIKO!" _He yelled, surprising everyone in the room

Fuji chuckled _"Saa, Tezuka is out for blood. 5 of his regular members skipping out on practice all in the same day, 4 of which don't have excuses, one of the four being his fukubuchou" _

"FUJI-SEMPAI!" Ryoma yelled before she was silenced by Momo's quick hand

The 4 tennis members paled, Ryoma's determined eyes starred at her brother's amused ones

"_Saa…keeping secrets from me Eiji? I see…please tell Echizen-san that I'll be there in a few neh?"_

The phone from Eiji's hand dropped. The other regulars looked at him, their faces a mixture of horror and confusion

"W-what did he say Eiji?" Oishi asked, alarmed that his doubles partner had just carelessly dropped his phone

"Barricade the doors! Close all windows! Run! Hide! Jump! Fujiko is on his way!" He exclaimed, already in the process of barricading his garden shed

Momo was stunned into shock before he complied and helped out in barricading the door and windows. "Gah! Fuji-sempai?" He exclaimed, closing the curtains and everything else with Oishi and Inui's (he just pointed out what things he could use to barricade against Fuji) help.

The Echizen siblings stayed quit, glancing at each other with questions left unanswered in their eyes.

Inui approached the little girl "Echizen" He mumbled, grabbing her attention

"If your going to shove a drink down my throat, I'll personally sell you on the black market sempai" she threatened

He smiled at that, his glasses glinting "It did cross my mind, but I just have some questions for you"

She nodded, sleep on the far side of her mind as of the moment "Just a few" she mumbled, her eyes still watching her seniors fuss around, clearly making a lot of noise

"That's your brother right?" He asked, wheeling the older Echizen sibling to the younger

Ryoma glanced at her smirking brother "No. I have no brother" She spoke stubbornly

The smirk dropped "Oi! How cruel Chibisuke! I got you oranges and everything!"

She merely stuck out her tongue, ignoring the scratching noises her data crazed sempai was making with his pen and notebook.

Her brother gave her a pointed look before he smirked "Your right, my sister should be much more beautiful than some simpleton like her"

She puffed her cheeks and frowned at him "Tch. He's just mad that he doesn't get girls as quickly as I do"

That statement confused her sempai but made perfect painful sense to her brother "Gah! That's because your such a tomboy!"

"And you're such a sissy!" She retaliated

A quick rap on the door froze them all "Eiji! I brought you and your friends some snacks, would you like some?" A motherly voice questioned from outside the garden shed.

Tables and chairs flew as they now tried to open the door "Snack time! Snacks!" They exclaimed as Oishi merely fussed over them.

* * *

><p>…<p>

Fuji was ready.

Fuji was prepared.

Fuji…was Fuji.

Described as the enigmatic tensai of Seigaku

Known as the sadistic blackmailer of the tennis team

Renowned for his strange addiction to his brother.

And now… a lovesick puppy. Ahem. Clear that. And now he was the dashing knight in shining armor, his damsel in distress in his arms squirming to get fre- Ah…that doesn't sound right either.

Ahem. Fuji Syusuke. Evil. Yes, that sounds better.

"Fuji-sempai, put me down"

"No. I rather like you being in my arms Ryoma-san"

A frown

A chuckle

"My brother will misunderstand"

"Saa, so this is the man you've taken the day off for?"

A quick nod

A sadistic smile, unknowingly sighing in relief

"Ryoma-san, shouldn't you be thankful I saved you from them?"

A quick gesture to the pile of 4 dead bodies on the garden floor.

A pout accompanied by a flush on her cheeks

"I will be. If you put me down"

"Now that wouldn't be fun now, would it Ryoma-san?"

He continued to carry her through the garden and into the house

"And what are you going to tell my brother?"

A grin "He'll be coming with us"

And sure enough, the curious only son of the Echizen's followed suit, hiding behind telephone polls and anything else that was big enough to hide him, the college grad watched with suspicious eyes (as did everyone else on the streets) as Fuji continued to carry the miniature girl.

"Fuji-semp-" She was cut off as he stopped, bringing his face close to hers.

"Saa, call me Syusuke. We 'are' friends right Ryoma-san?"

A secret threat

A nod.

He pulled away before continuing to walk to wherever he was heading, the girl in his arms having had given up on escaping his tight hold

Ryoga had almost had a heart attack watching their closeness, his sister cuddling onto the strangers chest, falling asleep after a while. The stranger having had gotten much too close for his liking, he'd have to report to Nanjirou as soon as possible.

"Neh, Syusuke-sempai, where are we going?" She asked, her eyes closed as she rested her head against his well-built chest.

He smiled. It wasn't the usual sadistic smile, it was happy and yet secretive. "Saa, you'll see…"

She looked up with a smile. A smile that had him confused, she noticed his confusion and merely shook her head.

"Sempai looks nice with that smile. Thanks for saving me sempai…" She sighed, before drifting off to sleep once more.

* * *

><p>Hate it? Love it? Review it? No? Yes? Yes because you'd love the series to continue as much as I do? No because you want the series to be torn down? Change the whole chapter because you hate it?<p>

Reviews are LOVE!

Be it Flames or Compliments! T.T


	12. The Meadow is Ours

Personally, I think Ryoma is cute here. Though she'll return to her sleepy and oblivious self in the next chapter. Ice cream will never be the same once you read how Fuji see's it .

* * *

><p>The two laughed.<p>

It was a sight to behold, the little girl merrily eating her cake and drinking Ponta, joking and smiling, as her partner wore her sacred (and never before borrowed) white Fila cap, a true blooming smile on his face as he talked to her.

Inui could not believe his eyes. He took off his glasses, wiped them then put them on again. They were still there. They were still laughing. Suspicious!

"Ii data" He murmured, opening his notebook and scribbling on it. His client would be very much interested in his data. Oh so interested.

"-And so oyaji decided to just throw it all away" Another laugh from her favorite sempai

She had been hanging out with him in the meadow by the park for a while now, they had done so ever since he carried her here, and she smiled. It was their secret he said. Their secret hiding place

"Saa, is the cake to your liking Ryoma-san?"

She nodded sweetly, having been energized enough by the flood of Ponta he had brought with him. "Thanks for the treat Syusuke-sempai"

He smiled "Your not as tired as you always were before, I am glad. Now I get to talk to you more"

She gave him a curious look "Talk? What about?"

His thoughts stumbled for a second "Ano…tennis, yeah. The Kanto finals are coming soon. I heard you were getting special training again"

"Yeah…Tezuka-sempai said I should" She spoke with a curt nod

You could practically see the arrow shoot itself into his heart at her comment. Keep it cool Fuji. It's not like your dating her or anything. She might just admire Tezuka. There cant be anything the stoic man had over him…right?

"Saa, you've always been Tezuka's little admirer" He spoke after a moment of silence

A yawn escaped her and so she took a sip of her drink "Yeah. Tezuka-sempai is cool" she commented absentmindedly

Another arrow struck.

"So what do you like about Tezuka?" He asked curiously with a tilt of his head

She went deep into her thoughts before mumbling her answer "He's strong (in tennis), He never disturbs my sleep unless if its important (like tennis), he's smart (about his tactics in tennis) and he's got really smooth moves (in his tennis games). What's with the sudden interrogations Syusuke-sempai?"

He raised an elegant brow at the list, arrows puncturing and painful squeezing his heart as he listened. "Smooth moves?"

Inui's eyes widened "Ii Data" he mumbled once more, he never knew his own buchou had the hots for the soon to be Pillar of Seigaku. Hmm. Interesting. His client would be VERY much interested in this little piece of information as well.

…

Fuji (and several other men in the park) watched as she licked, suckled and just about attacked her ice cream. You would almost think the ice cream was her long lost lover who she was suddenly reunited with, which somewhat irritated the tensai if only it weren't for the blissful look in her eyes

"Saa, your quiet into it Ryoma-chan" He commented

She let a small smile grace her face as she nodded before eyeing his ice cream "Sempai, what flavor is that?" she pointed at his ice cream scoop which was a light green in color, momentarily abandoning her ice cream.

"It's my favorite flavor (A/N: just making this on the spot ._.) Chocolate mint ice cream"

Her eyes brightened even more "Can I try?" she asked

He debated on the ethics of sharing his ice cream. Ahem. Take two. His FAVORITE ice cream. Then again, screw ethics! If she attacked his ice cream like the way she did hers then…no Fuji. Bad Fuji. Thoughts like that aren't suppose to be in your hormonal head till you got in a relationship. A grin spread over his face.

"Saa, go ahead" He approved slyly, handing over his ice cream.

She took it with gusto and took a slow and sensual lick. It brought shivers to her stalkers.

He took it back from her small hand "Did you like it?"

"Yeah, but vanilla is still better" She commented, sucking on one of her fingers which had (un) fortunately been covered by a drop of vanilla ice cream.

The perverts in the park had nosebleeds.

"As expected" He commented, quietly leading her away from the park full of stalker perverts. Or…ahem…newly turned stalker perverts. They could all blame Ryoma for turning them into so.

"Syusuke-sempai, can we go over to my house?" She asked quietly, pointing to a road leading straight to her (new) house

He gave it a quick glance "Huh, I thought you lived in that hotel"

She shook her head "Not anymore, Oyaji and Ryoga cant live there with me" she explained, walking with her sempai towards her new house.

He walked silently, assessing in his head the address of her new house into memory

"95% chance that Echizen was forced" Inui muttered, writing quickly into his notebook, still stalking the duo.

* * *

><p>The two Echizen men watched. Oh yes they watched very carefully from the window on the top floor of their new house<p>

"That's him Oyaji, the one who was carrying Chibisuke" Ryoga spoke, suspicion in his voice.

The glass in Nanjoroh's hand suddenly broke "He's even wearing the brat's cap"

Ryoga growled, noting the strange truth. Though he was somewhat happy that his sister had made quiet an effort (was actually Fuji's effort) in keeping awake, if it was just for some guy they hadn't met yet then it was probably a wrong idea to keep her awake.

"What do we do Oyaji?" The only son of The Samurai asked.

Said Samurai smirked "Let's go welcome the brats new friend"

"Hmph, cant she make normal female friends for me to date? Chibisuke so un-cute"

Nanjiroh laughed. Yup, this kid was definitely his. Had the Echizen touch in him too. He patted his son on the back before the two prepared themselves for their new visitor. They were Echizen men, and Echizen men took charge over their women. Ahem…that is…if the women didn't happen to have pointy teeth and deadly hands that could castrate them…so they took charge in secret! Yes, secrecy was their middle name.

"Meow" Karupin purred, quietly of course. He had already met this particular suitor. He was nice to him and gave him fish. A very worthy suitor indeed… his mistress chose well.

* * *

><p>Hate it? Love it? Review it! A chapter goody since I got to <strong>ONE HUNDRED reviews<strong>! Yay! I love you my fellow readers and especially the one's who review! Please continue to support the story!

**O~O Do you like it? Did it confuse you? Do I tear it down? Do I throw it away? Do I keep it and continue? Hellu? I need your opinions! T_T**


	13. Of Cliffhangers

"-This is getting way too off hand, Ryoma's already been interrogated in school. You could almost call it bullying if she wasn't the one scaring the people away"

The voice on the other side of the phone growled.

"Don't worry. I just need to finish these damned papers and i'll be on my way to save her, you can count on me Inui-kun!"

Inui pushed his glasses higher up his nose, a tight and tense look on his face as the door to his lab opened. '_Damn. He's here'_ passed through the data masters mind

"Excuse me" He spoke to the phone, hanging up almost immediately

"Saa…so it is true. You really were the boy in those pictures"

The data master's face scrunched up

"Fuji" Inui simply acknowledged.

Fuji began playing around with the lab equipments, particularly a very sharp knife.

"So…mind telling me who was that on the phone Inui-san?"

"Just an old friend…" He tried to evade the question unsuccessfully

Fuji's eyes opened, he knew how to pry off a secret from a dead man, he just hoped he didn't have to do it from a dead man.

Now Inui was regretting ever having a knife

"C-calm down, Fuji…all will be revealed soon"

"Not soon enough" The sadist replied. An evil glint going through his face

A few minutes later, the school alarms rang…

* * *

><p>Ryoma stopped in mid run, looking up like a curious child as the alarms rang. Her stalkers stopped with her, all panting and tired as they hid expertly throughout the hallway.<p>

"I can't be 'that' late now can I?" She mumbled out loud the silent hallway

It 'was' silent…that is…until the students pilled out of their classrooms.

Ryoma was but a blur of black-green as she was swept back out by the loud and screaming crowd.

"Fire!"

"Gah! Run!"

"Run faster you idiots!"

"Stop pushing!"

"Wah! Wah! I tripped!"

Could be heard amongst the throng of noise that proved to be the student body of Seigaku

As they reached the outdoor field, Ryoma, in her confusion and wide eyed lost child state, was finally saved by Momoshiro

"Eh? Ah…wazzap Momo-sempai?" She asked, still confused as to what was going on

He frowned and pulled her to a deserted shed, motioning for her to be silent. She ignored the motion completely

"Are you kidnapping me again, sempai? Fuji-sempai will be pissed when he hears about th-"

She paused, finally registering his serious face.

"Are you really dating Fuji-sempai?" He asked seriously

The usually drowsy girl was alarmed by his seriousness and began looking around nervously. This would be the 29th time she was questioned today, she truly did plan to get to class…it was just that people kept stopping her to ask that very question.

She steeled her nerves and gave him the same answer she had given the other 28 curious people.

"Fuji-sempai and I are-"

* * *

><p>"Ungrateful, brat."<p>

Nanjirou mumbled, laying down to read the day's newspaper before slipping between the pages one of his favorite 'magazines'. He grinned leaning in to get a closer look as a small blush tinted his cheeks.

"Well, look at the size of those…"

He gave a small giggle, absently noticing the telephone ringing in the background.

"Ryoga! Phone!"

The sound of water running upstairs came to an abrupt halt before Ryoga's voice echoed downstairs.

"I'm in the shower, you old perverted man! The phone's right in front of you! Stop reading your porn and answer it yourself."

Nanjirou winced as the bathroom door slammed shut before the water started again.

"What did I do in my past life to deserve such ungrateful brats as children?"

He sighed, not once taking his eyes of the magazine, he reached out the painfully long distance to the table in front of him and answered the phone.

"Moshi Moshi?"

"Nanjirou? We have a problem…"

Ryoga was leisurely rubbing shampoo on his hair and was humming to himself absentmindedly as he enjoyed the warm water against his skin before the bathroom door suddenly slammed open.

Father and son stared at each other, shocked, before Ryoga was the first one to snap out of it.

Fighting the urge to scream like a girl he quickly grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist before screaming.

"What the hell, Old Man?!"

"Pfft! What? It's not like I haven't seen your junk before. I am your father after all."

"W-What? I didn't know you swing like that, you perverted old man! Pedophile! GET OUT!"

Ryoga began throwing anything he got his hands on at the intruder. Nanjirou placed his old tennis skills to good use, dodging everything but the wet bar of soap that smacked into his eyes.

"AHHHH! It burns!"

"Serves you right, old man. May you never see your porn ever again!'

"NOOO!"

Feeling around for the bathroom sink, he dunked his head underwater, nearly drowning himself in the process. Spluttering he slowly opened his eyes, it stung but he could see!

"Wait, brat, listen!'

"Get Out!"

"Ryoma's in trouble!'

Ryoga paused in mid-throw, eyes narrowing at the quivering old man.

"You better not be lying."

"It's true! The old lady just called up, she said Rinko has been calling old friends"

His eyes widened at the statement, lowering the toothbrush he was about to throw at him, Ryoga whispered softly to himself.

"I thought she was still in America…"

"Apparently, she's taken a well deserved break all of a sudden."

"So, she could take Ryoma…"

"If Ryoma agrees."

Anger welled-up in Ryoga's chest before flickering out like a candle against the harsh wind. He sighed tiredly.

"I know how you feel. I can't stay angry at her for long either."

"Well… Let's go get Chibisuke before she gets any ideas."

"Don't worry so much. That Fuji kid who came by last time could probably fend for her for a while"

"Psh. Chibisuke would probably scare him off"

Nanjirou watched as Ryoga made a move to exit the bathroom before reminding him.

"But, I think you should wash that gunk off your head and put on some clothes first."

Ryoga paused, face heating up in embarrassment he glared at him threateningly.

"GET OUT! YOU PERVERTED OLD MAN!"

* * *

><p>*peaks out shyly* Hey~ Wazzap fellow readers? Like the new cliffhanger? Ehehe…I…yeah…sorry for the late update… ;3 Don't kill meh! . Fourth year high school aint peachy! So much to DO! T_T<p>

KUDOS TO MY CLOSE FRIEND AND POSSIBLE WRITER MATE: MARIANNE DELA PENA! *^* Without her…this update would not be possible!

Sorry my dear friend, me and my beta thought about it for a while and will have to decline the offer of co-author ship. I began this story with my cousin and though she may be off now, I shall end it for her. WITH my awesome beta of course. Sorry.


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